the longest day was done (and she didn't seem to know the use of fear)
by potidaea
Summary: "Just take a minute knowing that, right before she died, Lena probably called out for Kara, not Supergirl" - aluthorand-asupercorp


The plaza was teeming with people running in every direction; avoiding chaos but creating it anyway. People were panicked and rightfully so. There were children crying for the mothers…people in wheelchairs pushing desperately toward salvation…everyone utterly, savagely hanging on to their last hope. Lena Luthor pushed down her panic as she directed the citizens of National City to the refugee ship when Alex ran up to her. "We need more time! Can you hold the portal open somehow? Hold back the wave?"

Lena's eyes lit up, "Reverse the polarity! I'll need to supercharge the Quantum Tower manually." She was off in a dead-sprint toward the DEO, yelling over her shoulder, "Ten minutes!"

She worked as fast as she could, re-coding the data streaming through the Quantum Tower as it flew before her eyes. It was working, but only just. She couldn't leave her post. She wouldn't. For every second she spent correcting data, another human or alien life was saved. She had to do this. This, more than anything, was the cost of being a Luthor. A final payment on the sins of her family - and, for better or worse, of what they think she is capable. She knew what her mother would say, what Lex would say. She was weak. A Luthor cares only for themself.

Glancing at her phone, she briefly considered calling Alex. Saying goodbye. Saying sorry. Saying thank you. Saying _something_. Maybe they weren't friends now, but they had been once - and that counted for something at the end of the world. She pushed away the thought. _The DEO would want an update, is all. Forget friendship._

The ground continued to shake beneath her feet as she typed fastidiously at the computer, hunched over the desktop. "Shit, shit, shit." The data started flying across the screen faster than she could correct. Her fingers worked overtime, typing complex equations at warp speed. She could save the city…save the planet. She was so single-mindedly focused on her task, she barely flinched when a metal beam crashed down from the ceiling fifteen feet behind her. Or when the concrete crumbled in it's wake, shaking the already unstable floor beneath her.

Lena did, however, notice when the internet connection failed as wires ripped from the walls where cracks had formed. Electricity sparked from the wires, propelling her backward and out of immediate danger. Looking around, she saw broken concrete and bent steel. Her time was up. She pushed as far to the line as she could. Any hint of blue in the sky was gone. It was a deep and dusky imposing red, as if the blood of the other planets soaked the sky. The earthquakes grew more powerful with each passing moment. This Earth was not a home anymore. If she didn't know it was the apocalypse before, she did now.

Lena ran toward the closest exit, only to find it blocked by fallen rubble. Backtracking, she scanned her surroundings for a way out. Supergirl's entrance to the DEO was clear and Kara, if anything, was good in a pinch. _Fuck it_, she thought. She refused to die in this godforsaken building - literally and brutally crushed by the DEO.

"Kara!" She yelled as she catapulted herself over the ledge. Surely, Supergirl would rescue her. She was a hero now, too.

She waited for what seemed like ages. There was no daring rescue. Just a long fall. For a second she thought how nice it must be to fly, until the rest of her brain screamed you fucking idiot. As she fell, she watched the red sky grow darker. It was oddly beautiful.

Then, there was only darkness.

—

When they finally made it to Earth-1, Kara searched every refugee camp.

Alex told her, "She held back the wave. I didn't see her on the ship." She also said I'm sorry about three hundred times before Kara snapped. She was so sick and tired of it. So tired of losing everyone and everything that mattered as soon as they were within her grasp. So tired of being happy for the sake of the people around her. She wanted to scream. She wanted to feel. But with Lena gone, she felt nothing. Nothing good, at least.

The refugees were always so happy to see her, no matter how desperately empty her eyes were. She guessed they felt just as empty as she did. Just as homeless. Just as unbound. But the children still seemed so light, so carefree. They were always delighted when she came around. The Paragon Of Hope.

Them, she regaled with the tale of their Earth's savior: Lena Luthor. The Earth's one true hope.

She had no pictures. There wasn't time. All she had was her memories...and each time she told the story it refreshed the image of the brunette in her mind in beautiful, blaring color. It hurt. Rao, did it hurt to say her name. To remember there was no breath in her lungs. To imagine her fear, or even worse her courage at the end. The woman who spent her life fighting, always gritting her teeth and carrying on, finally met her match. It seemed fitting that it took something powerful enough to destroy a planet to kill Lena Luthor. Anything less would have been disrespectful to that absolute paragon of a woman.

The wound would always be bloody and raw, but she'd continue to poke at it, if only to remember.

So far, she remembered the following:

\- Lena was so beautifully, painfully human. Weak and strong. Full of mistakes and sorrow, but so utterly capable of joy.

\- Her eyes were greener than Kryptonite, but more serene than the Jewel Mountains in Argo City. She was always safe in their embrace.

\- This, she never forgot: She loved Lena with all of her heart and never told her. Not in the way she deserved. So, she would tell everyone else.

—

The people of Earth-1 sang of the legend of Lena Luthor generations after her death. The woman who saved their lives. She ensured six billion out of the seven billion people on Earth-38 made it to safety. She had no weapons, no superpowers. She was just too smart for her own good.


End file.
